Sherri Woodard Coffey

What I really want to do is take a nap, but what I AM going to do is cut off the horrible green stripe fiasco, and retie warp. I’ve decided that I really don’t like those yarns for this kind of weaving, and they’re gone.  I need to build up inventory with things I enjoy weaving, not spend my time trying to make something work.

Today our guild had a swap and shop kind of meeting, a first for us. It’s somehow fascinating to find how we’re all so much alike.  Boxes and crates of no-longer-wanted yarns were available for sale at a good price. The stash has to get reduced at some point. And I took a few skeins to join the others.

              Stick up bulb by Westinghouse

LED Battery Operated Puck Light

After reading Jennifer’s comment, I decided to do a little more research into task lighting possibilities. I did a quick search on lowes.com, trying to see what might be available locally, but have found more possibilities online. Pegasus has many battery-powered lights, but I like what they call barbecue lights on this page. They clip on and have a flexible neck so that the light can be positioned where you need it. Unfortunately, it costs $45. I bought one of the little lights like the one pictured directly above, but it doesn’t shine where I need it. It would be great inside a cabinet, though. I’ll just have this whole lighting project in the back of my mind for when I get out again. Generally, I’m not much of a shopper, so that could be a while. Unless, of course, I get compulsive about this.

In the recent ikat measuring, I used 1-inch sections since the whole design is straight lines of various rectangles, and I wanted a little more of a “fuzzier” look at the color edges. However, 1-inch sections are a little harder to manage. Think next time 1/2-inch sections would be more manageable. I’m going to have to “cowboy up” (as they say here in Texas) for the next project and test all those mathematical calculations for the spiral and/or an animal stripe. With those kind of designs, the wraps will probably only be 1/4-inch sections.

I decided to wrap all the sections close to the pegs first ‘cause they’re the hardest to do. The first 8 sections will be tied all the way across to within 2.5 inches of the pegs on both sides.

Does anyone make an LED battery powered light? May need to do a search for one. Since I moved the loom and this ikat station, my lighting needs to be changed. There’s no convenient way to plug in a light for use with the ikat table in this location.

This morning is ikat measuring and wrapping morning. The afternoon will be occupied with the crown for that unfortunate broken tooth and Mother’s computer work.

Bending over an ikat board can be hard on the back. I will think seriously about raising it up with casters or some other device. For the wrapping part, I will be able to sit down for much of the time. I realized as I was measuring this that it is going to take a LOT of wrapping! The cartoon is the white paper that is barely visible at the top of the magenta yarn in the top photo. Wish I knew how to insert an arrow, but …

Close up of magenta yarn on board.

I will have to insert a string into each pegged loop and tie the string to the outer pegs so that I can wrap the yarns close to the turning loop. There will be about 2 inches of black border around the entire piece. You can see what the plan is here.

Yarns balled and ready for next weaving-a simple stripe with maybe some cut pile.

Some of these yarns are hand-painted, although you can’t tell from the picture. I’m combining them with other yarns in the stash to make a whole, very simple piece. I ran across a tapestry sample (that I did years ago) that has knots and cut pile in it. These techniques might be worth experimenting with on these yarns. There will be no actual tapestry in the piece though. The idea is to weave this up fast so that I can have something on the loom, use up these yarns, and work on the ikat measuring/wrapping.

There are only two weaving-related items left on the list, and, as both of those will take a long time, I’m retiring this list. I’ll be working on both items alternately for a while.

Here is my to-do list for the week that I posted earlier. The purple items were added after the original post. Thought I’d cross off things when finished. “Real life” will never get crossed off because of its never-ending nature of to-dos. It’s a good thing I’ve had two really solid days of studio time because Wednesday is errand/grocery store day—and the Apple workshop. I’ve logged 15 hours of studio time so far this week, but it goes downhill from here. After the Apple workshop, I need to find a few hours to teach my mother the computer stuff—before I forget it all! But I’m pretty excited about this week. Lots accomplished, the studio looks better, and I can alternate measuring/tying ikat and weaving. Can’t get any better than that!

• Dye magenta yarns
• Hem and photograph Señor Fish (this was left off the original list)
• Clean up studio
• Tie on warp
• Ball yarn for green piece (this was added later, but goes with the next item)
• Begin plain green piece
• Ball magenta skeins
• Begin tying ikat
• Apple workshop-Wednesday
• Real life

                    Set of 4 small Super Sliders

This is pretty exciting! I moved my 540-pound Cranbrook loom today. My friends told me about the Super Sliders that you can get at Lowe’s or Home Depot and how you can move just about anything with those. You use a crowbar to lift up each leg of the loom about 1/2 inch and insert the slider. After that, you just move that guy!  Of course, I also had to buy the crowbar. The Super Sliders above are about 3 inches. I had to use 7 inchers on my loom. Today the loom, tomorrow the hide-a-bed sofa! Yippee!

So now I’m working on the studio clean-up portion of my to-do list. By moving my loom, I’ve probably made this a more time-consuming task than originally intended.

Saturday was late hours night at the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth with hors d’overs, a jazz quartet, and bar. It was the first time going to one of these functions in a long time. I decided that it was a better time to see the special exhibitions since the crowds were thinner and it’s nice to do on a Saturday evening. I had not gone to Art & Love in Renaissance Italy previously because, frankly, the Renaissance is not one of my favorite art periods. I found the exhibit interesting, and, as usual, learned things (childbirth trays—who knew?). And it’s always amazing to see these really old paintings, ponder about the people depicted, and gaze in wonder at the talent of the artists. 

Here’s the finished fish hanging on the wall, with a detail on the right. Now going to post office to mail his CD form off. And a real life task—check air in tires.

To Do List Progress

• Dye magenta yarns
• Hem and photograph Señor Fish (this was left off the original list)
• Clean up studio-in progress
• Tie on warp
• Begin plain green piece
• Begin tying ikat
• Apple workshop
• Real life-Check air in tires-tire repaired from roofing nail.